Outboard motor



July 5, 1960 F IG 1 P 1 F IG. 2

Fl G. 3:

INVENTOR.

KARL A. MEG'EIZT,JR. By JOE. V. LINE United States OUTBOARD MOTOR 6 ciaims. -(Cl. 115-48 This invention relates to marine propulsion and more particularly to an improved outboard motor.

The outboard-motors in common use today; generally have an internalcombustion engine with a vertical shaft. This shaft depends to a gear box. The gears in the box connect the depending shaft to a propeller shaft, on which is attached a screw type propeller which moves the boat forward. We have invented an outboard motor whichhas a centrifugal pump mounted immediately below the internal combustion engine. I

Water is piped up from below the bottom of the boat to the pump and back again to obtain the power. The operation can be considered basically the same as that of the screw propeller type propulsion. There the screw propeller operates to pump water rearwardly to obtain propulsion for the boat, i.e., it accelerates water rearward. Our system also pumps water and accelerates it rearwardly; obtaining a forward propulsion force. The force on the boat-results from Newtons second law of motion, that for every action there must be a reaction. If the water is forced rearward, the boat must be forced forward V Our system has several advantages. 6 First, it is simpler and therefore islighter in weight. Second, it is less expensive to manufacture because of the elimination of parts. Third, because of eliminated parts, particularly a gear which operates below the surface of the water, this propulsion unit requiresless maintainance. Fourth, the unit is safer; the screw type propeller operating below the water is extremely dangerous to swimmers or other persons in the water. And last, it is more efiicient. I The centrifugal type pump is a more eflicient type of; pump than the axial flow screw propellerwith its-loss of energy in a radial direction. 7 n

An object of this invention is to provide an outboard propulsion means fora marine craft which has the advantages outlined above.

Other objects are to achieve these results with-adevice that is sturdy, simple; and reliable, yet cheap and easy to manufacture. a Y l The specific nature of this invention as well as other objects, uses, and advantages thereof will clearlyappear from the following description and from the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional view of a device in accordance with this invention attached to the transom of a boat, taken on line 1-1 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the device as shown in Fig. 1 with the housing broken away.

Fig. 3 is a cross-sectional view of the pump unit taken on line 33 of Fig. 2.

As seen in the drawings a device in accordance with this invention is designed to be attached to the transom 10 of a boat 12. The top of the transom is normal to the keel of the boat. The outboard motor unit is attached by clamp 14 which is of conventional design. It has two C-shaped members 16 which are connected by a plate 18 which fits against the outboard side of the tranatent I som. A rod 20 is screw threaded through each member 16 with-a pad which presses against the inboard sideof the transom. Bar 22 connects the upper portion of the two G-members 16 and is parallel to the beam of the boat and to the plane which contains plate 18. A sleeve 24 is journaled around bar 22. Arm 26 is rigidly connected to the sleeve 24. The arm 26 terminates with a bearing ring 28. The bearing ring is circular in crosssection and the axis of the ring is normal to the sleeve 24. Housing 30 of the unit is rotatably mounted with in the bearing ring 28. The housing has annular projections 32 above and below the bearing ring to prevent axial movement of the housing within the bearing ring. In the after side of (t-member 16 are a series'of spaced apertures 34 and is parallel to the bar 22. The housing below the annular projections 32 rests against this pin which holds the unit in the proper axial alignment. .1

Internal combustion engine 38is contained within hous ing 30 and mounted thereon. The internal combustion engine is complete with a gast tank 40. The engine is arranged to have a vertical crank shaft 42. Starting mechanism 44 is on the top of an extension of the crank shaft. Theinternal combustion engine 38 is conventional and well known to the art. We contemplate the use of any other well known type of prime mover such as an electric motor operated from a battery. A control lever is securely fastened to the housing. This control lever is for the purpose of rotating the housing 30 about its axis in the bearing ring 28 to guide the boat as described later. It may also'incorporate motor controls such as a throttle; or, motor controls may be mounted independently on the housing. 6 V

The crank shaft 42 extends below the motor into the pump housing or casing 48. Vanes 50-of a centrifugal type pump are securely attached to the crank shaft 42 within the pump housing. The motor 38 is located above the bearing ring 28 so'that it is accessible to the operater in the boat. The centrifugal pump is mounted immediately below the motor so that it forms a compact unit eliminating addition seals, shafts, etc. 7

Intake pipe or tube 52 extends within the housing 30 to a point below the bottom of the boat. It depends from the inlet of the pump, which is co-axial with the shaft 42. The drawings have shown this tube as integral with the pump casing 4 8, however it is well within the skill of craftsmen to put a connection between the housing and tube 52. Also the tube and casing could be made integral with the housing 30. The lower part of the tube 52 is bent forward and opens through an aperture in the housing 30. The forward portion is covered with a screen 54. This screen has been shown in the drawing as-being a curved sheet with a plurality of apertures in it. Of course, we contemplate that a conventional wire mesh screen could be used. The screen is a segment of a sphere with a convex forward face, so that marine flora will tend to be pushed from the front of the screen by the forward motion ofthe boat. Outlet tube 56 extends from the outlet 58 of the pump casing. It also depends to a point below the bottom of the boat. At the extreme end of the outlet tube may be a constriction forming a nozzle 60. The outlet nozzle from the outlet tube 58 points rearward, i.e., from the inlet opening. The lower portion 62 of the housing 30 is flattened and lengthened in a direction parallel to the keel of the boat, so that it will have some action as a rudder. The relationships are given with the unit in the normal position as shown. It is possible to rotate the unit in the bearing ring through an unlimited angle.

The first step in operating this outboard motor is to attach it to a boat as illustrated. Next, the motor is started by operation of the starting mechanism 44. As the crank shaft 42 begins to rotate carrying with it the vanes 50 they will pump air or produce sufficient vacuum to bring water up from the screen of the inlet pipe 54 into the pump. The pump rotates in the direction of arrow A, Fig. 3. The forward face of the vanes are convex. Vanes shaped such as this have good ability to pump air and therefore it is not necessary to prime the pump when first starting. As soon as the pump has water in it, it forces the water through outlet pipe 56 and nozzle 60. The water entering the pipe 52 on the forward side and exhausting from pipe 56 on the rear side will expend force or energy. The motor unit, and consequently, the boat will be pushed forward with the same force or energy as the water is pushed in the rearward direction. Good efficiency is obtained because of the high efiiciency of the type pump used. There is some friction loss in the pipes but it is negligible.

Steering, or control of the direction of the boat, is obtained by rotating the housing 30 in the bearing ring 28 by use of control lever 46. The force exerted by the inlet and outlet tubes 52 and 56 will orient with the motor unit. Also assisting this control will be the flat rudder like lower portion 62 of the housing 30. If the motor is stopped while the boat is moving, good control can be obtained from the rudder like portion 62.

A valve could be inserted in the outlet pipe to control the power output. Two systems of control would be available. By one. a governor and constant speed engine would be used and the sole speed control would be by the valve. By the other, the engine speed would normally be varied to control the speed except at low speeds (or trolling speed) the valve could be partially closed to obtain better control. The valve could be of any conventional type, such as butterfly or gate.

Thus, it may be seen that we have provided by this invention a safe, lightweight, simple, eflicient outboard motor for boats which have very low maintainance cost. All parts in contact with water may be made of some metal well known in the marine art adapted for this service.

It will be apparent that the embodiment shown is only exemplary and that various modifications can be made in construction, materials, arrangements, within the scope of the invention as defined in the appended claims.

We claim as our invention:

1. In a marine propulsion system having a boat; a transom on the boat; a pair of C-shaped members fitted over the transom and clamped thereto; a bar extending transverse to the keel of the boat connected said C-shaped members; a sleeve mounted for rotation on said shaft; an arm on the sleeve; a bearing ring on the arm with the axis thereof normal to the sleeve; a housing mounted for rotation in the bearing ring; a prime mover mounted within the housing; a vertical shaft depending from the prime mover; the improvements comprising: vanes attached to the shaft, said vanes having a convex forward face in the direction of which they would normally be rotated by the prime mover; a pump casing surrounding the vanes with an inlet co-axial with the shaft; an inlet tube connecting to the inlet of the pump casing; a said inlet tube depending from the pump housing to a point below the bottom of the boat, the inlet tube having an opening facing a first direction; a screen over the opening in the inlet tube, said screen having a convex forward face; and an outlet tube attached to the outlet of the pump casing; the said outlet tube depending to a point below the bottom of the boat, the outlet tube having an opening which faces from the opening of the inlet tube, said angle being measured about the axis of the bearing ring; said housing extending over the entire length of the inlet tube and the outlet tube and having a flattened rudder like lower portion.

2. An outboard motor for small marine craft comprising: a housing; said housing being mounted for rotation within a bearing ring; clamp means attached to said bearing ring for clamping the bearing ring onto a boat; a prime mover mounted on said housing; a centrifugal pump mounted on said housing immediately below said prime mover and driven by said prime mover; and a tube portion depending from said pump; said portion including tubes; one of said tubes connected to the inlet of the pump and one of the said tubes to the outlet of the pump; openings in said tubes facing a direction normal to the axis of the bearing ring and facing 180 from each other.

3. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein said tube portion has an outer contour which is flattened like a rudder, with the edge of said flattened portion aligned with the openings of said tubes.

4. The invention as defined in claim 2 wherein the vanes in said centrifugal pump have convex forward faces in the direction which they would normally be rotated by said prime mover; so that the pump is self priming.

5. In a combination of a boat; means for pumping water mounted on the boat above the water level; and tubes extending from the means for pumping water to below the bottom of the boat; said means and tubes connected together as a unit the improvement comprising: said unit mounted for rotation about the vertical axis, the lower portion of the unit including the tubes below the bottom of the boat being flattened like a rudder.

6. An outboard motor for small marine craft comprising: a housing; said housing being mounted for rotation within a bearing ring; clamp means attached to said bearing ring for clamping the bearing ring onto a boat; means for pumping water mounted on the housing above the bearing ring; and a tube portion depending from said means for pumping; said portion including tubes; one of said tubes connected to the inlet of the means for pumping and one of said tubes connected to the outlet of the means for pumping; opening in said tubes facing a direction normal to the axis of the bearing ring, and facing 180 degrees from each other.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 21,825 Eaton Oct. 19, 1858 1,482,196 Ketring et al. Ian. 29, 1924 2,213,434 Rayniak Sept. 3, 1940 2,473,603 Miller June 21, 1949 2,702,516 Tinker Feb. 22, 1955 

